Holy, Holy, Holy!

Christians around the world are familiar with this famous hymn.  It is a song sung by the angels attending the throne of God.  Their words are meant to cheer, a joyful shout of thanks and praise to God.  

The words have been chanted and sung around the world since the days of Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ.  In some ways, they are a correspondence between worship on earth and in heaven.  Imagine lifting your own voice to sing the same words offered in praise by the angels.

Since the hymn we know today was written in the late 1700s, it has become an integral part of worship throughout Christianity.  For Catholics, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy!” is called “Sanctus” (Latin for “Holy”) and is the beginning of the Eucharist Prayer, the most important part of their worship.

The modern hymn has been sung in the greatest places of worship around the world and has become one of the most popular recordings ever done by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Literally millions have heard the choir’s voices blend with their mighty organ to sing this praise to the Lord.

There is another place where this song held great meaning over much of the past century.  A small brick church, once yellow but now gray, sits on the main corner of a small town in Southwest Georgia.  The First Presbyterian Church of Donalsonville, Georgia was my family’s church home for nearly 40 years, but a saint was there long before I arrived and after I left.

Martha Nell Spooner passed away on Monday, November 11, 2024.  She was an amazing woman that raised a large family yet found time to be a mother to many in the church.  She gave the most amazing prayers, offered great counsel with her soft voice, and inspired generations of people in so many ways.

I found my way to the organ bench after Mary Lou and I moved to Donalsonville.  I remember the first time I ever played “Holy, Holy, Holy!” during a service.  It was appropriately on page one of the Presbyterian Hymnal.  It had a descant, something that I had never heard in the Baptist Church of my youth.

On the fourth stanza, a voice lifted from the choir, soaring above the congregation.  It literally sounded like the voice of an angel to me and my eyes teared up so much I could hardly read the music.  Not to worry, because there were many other eyes glistening, many cheeks moist.  It was the most amazing thing I had ever heard.

I heard it literally hundreds of times over my 35 years as the organist at that wonderful church.  It was not only a congregational favorite, it was sung at funerals, weddings and other special occasions.  As Martha Nell’s voice struggled to reach the high notes later in her long life, other angels always appeared to make sure the descant was being heard.  

I will remember Martha Nell and her husband, Luther, for including my wife and I when we were a young couple.  I will remember her willingness to serve in every role imaginable in the life and ministry of the church.

I will especially remember her at the 125th anniversary of First Presbyterian Church, the last time I saw her.  Holding her hand, talking to her, and realizing the effort it took for her to be there.  Nothing would have kept her away.

I will remember her love for all those in her large family, and her ability to love so many more.  I thought of her as a matriarch, a leader by example, whose knowledge of the Bible gave her a certain authority to speak, but her grace, and life lived by example made her voice even more powerful.

I could literally write several columns about Martha Nell Spooner.  If you google her name, you will see that I already have.  It always revolved around her voice of an angel, which sang so all could hear and praised the Lord as we are all called to do.

As we mourn the loss and celebrate the life of Martha Nell, most who ever heard her voice during this descant will tell the same story.  Four decades after I first heard her sing these words, I still think of her every time I hear this hymn.  I suspect many of us always will.

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Lord God Almighty

All Thy works shall praise Thy name

In earth and sky and sea.

 

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Lord God Almighty

God in three persons

Blessed Trinity.

o0o

Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]